Samsung DeX - First Thoughts

[SnowCat19]

First of all I want to give a special shout out to @Nick and Samsung, Thank you for sending me the new Samsung DeX station. I have only had a chance to play with it a bit, so these are my first thoughts.

1. When I docked my Samsung S8 into the DeX, it started up real fast, and was really cool. I plugged a wireless Logitech USB Dongle for my keyboard and mouse, it connected and paired right away, so there was no issues with that.
First impression, I was using this on a 20'' monitor and the resolution was really small. I cant really see anything, everything is small, when I open my apps like the browser, or my messages app, everything was so small to read. Also the DeX did not take up the full screen, you have to manually over scale your monitor to make the DeX full screen which then reduces the quality.

2. One thing I noticed right away, was there was definitely some lag. It was not as responsive as I thought it would be..opening app, typing, switching apps...you do not feel like you are using a Galaxy S8, as there is a small buffer time when trying to multi task.

3. Messaging, when I was using Samsung Messages to send text messages, well as hard it was already to read anything unless going super close to my monitor, there is a delay when typing. When you press enter on the keyboard, it does not send the message, but jumps to next line.
Basically you have to type your message, and then use your mouse and click send...seems a bit inconvenient. I am wondering if there is a way to have enter click send.

4. I am sure this is just a setting, but when hovering your mouse over an app or icon, after a few seconds, the app opens without even clicking on it. I would like it so you can hover your mouse over an icon, and nothing happens until you double click it. This is super frustrating. When I click on my notifications to bring down all my notifications, just hovering over something will "click" on it, so if I have a vociemail, and my mouse it over it for a second or two, it will call my voicemail even if I dont click on it...Really hope there is a way to disable this.

Those are the only cons I have found so far, alot of pros. Its nice to have your Samsung docked and charging battery, (although it is just normal cable charging even though I am using a adaptive fast charger to power the DeX)
Its nice to quickly use your monitor to open the browser and get full web experience, not a mobile view. The camera still works while the S8 is docked.

Overall I am quite impressed with the DeX as no one else has anything similar. I feel it is a bit over priced, and this would only be for people who work in the office from a desktop PC and there phone at the same time cus it is really good for emails on your phone.
One thing that needs to be improved is the speed of DeX. It is just too laggy when working, and of course the resolution. I dont see anyway to zoom, or change the resolution on the DeX. Only on the monitor settings.

Then again I haven't really had a chance to go through all the settings and what not. If anyone else has the DeX please feel free to add your own feedback as well,

thanks everyone, and thanks again Samsung!! You Guys ROCK!!

[Brando]

Nice review!

[SnowCat19]

Thanks Brando, I will be doing a follow up review as this was my first half hour with the DeX, and I have to say it diffidently needs a bit of tweaking but overall I am impressed and kudos to Samsung for being the first one to make a move on an actual Desktop Experience, once again thank you @Nick for send me a DeX

[Cprice]

I've been using Dex for awhile and have not experienced any lag at all, screen resolution in fine on my 23" monitor and the whole screen is used.

[Jmak]

I believe like my tv only old HDMI devices face that resolution problem.

[Jmak]

I connected my Dex on samsung monitor 24" it worked perfectly. No adjustment was required. Worked smooth. Had some lag in multi tasking. But streaming worked perfectly on Dex at 1080p watched twitch stream for 3 hours without issue. I had trouble connecting to my Toshiba tv in bedroom. I had to make adjustments for fit screen. Also I had to connect my sound bar on Bluetooth optical connection didn't work which runs thru tv. I didn't get a chance to work on it as much as I wanted but so far I am impressed. If this device would have came out when I was a student, I would have definitely bought this instead of a laptop.
All of the apps including mobile ones can be opened on Dex. If your app is not optimized for Samsung Dex, you can still run it on portrait mobile sized screen. Facebook, Twitter, twitch.tv and YouTube are the ones I tested and they did run smoothly. Though there was a little lag if multiple apps are opened. Also sound works like mobile you can only play one video or audio at a time. Charger and HDMI cable is not included. I haven't found any video quality issue yet. I am still exploring my Dex and will keep posting on pros cons and solution if any of our user face any.

Finally I would to thank @nick and @samsungcanada for the generosity and appreciation for my input in this community.

[Jonathan34]

Wow thanks for the thorough review to all the above as well! Still sounds like a really cool piece of tech and I'd love to get my hands on it. But as stated above it could also be your monitor causing delay in input. If Samsung Dex had a wireless feature it would be great for a Home experience as well. Basically wireless HDMI adapter would be an awesome addition.

Definitely going to try and get my hands on one. Samsung has such cool and innovative products, can't wait to see what they may release alongside the Note 8

[Jmak]

Try side sync for pc

[Jonathan34]

Yeah that's what I currently use, awesome app, stumbled upon it when I was researching Samsung Dex. Use it to keep tabs on my phone while working lol

[Jmak]

I am working on using phone for wireless display. I have Chromecast and I can cast my phone on tv. I am working on if it's possible with Dex.